The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Erik Miller. Oscar recognized his once foe in the Free Duels, who had a grade-five Exolsia core with a gauntlet anima. However, he had not seen Erik in a long time after Gilbert's match against Leon Ritcher.

In the years since then, Oscar saw Erik had not changed much, still a bit shorter than the average, with a slightly plump body with curly blond hair. Oscar smiled and reached his hand out. "Good to be working with you."

"Hehe, likewise." Erik shook Oscar's hand and then held his hand out to Austin. "Nice to meet you; I am Erik Miller."

Austin shook Erik's hand for a short moment with an indifferent look and returned to standing at attention.

"Don't mind him." Oscar noticed Erik's irked expression at Austin's coldness. "He's like that but not a bad guy. Follow us; we can discuss the details in a tent."

The campgrounds had many white tents for anyone to go in and rest. Inside one of them, Oscar sat down on a thin mattress, barely elevated from the floor. Before getting to the main topic, he decided to find out more about Erik to get a feel for how well they could work together.

"Is your Elemental Spark of the Fire discipline?" Oscar asked.

"That's correct." Erik pulled out some food and offered it to Oscar and Austin, who were hungry from a long day. They ate well together as they bombarded each other with questions.

"What about Emily?" Oscar teased.

Erik seemed to have been hit by an invisible uppercut as his back arched backward and his head snapped back. Frustration contorted his face, and his eyes trembled. "I'm mad I can't be the one, but she looks so happy with Frederick. So, I backed off."

The sight of Erik struggling to hold back his tears reminded Oscar of Serena's saddened expression when he rejected her. Embarrassed at himself for bringing up a sour topic, Oscar decided to get into the real topic.

"We found a potential place where precious resources and treasures might be. However, we can't confirm it because it's on top of that large tree." Oscar explained while Erik listened and Austin munched silently on his food. "We need to climb to the lowest branch."

"I understand." Erik nodded, his plump cheeks shaking. "If the tree is as big as you say, it may be possible for me to climb it, but taking the two of you along for the ride may be a stretch."

Hearing this, Oscar was not surprised because it was within his expectations. "We can help give an initial burst, but the rest is up to you."

"That sounds like a plan. I'm in." Erik placed his hand in the center.

Oscar laughed, put his hand on Erik's, and gestured for Austin to follow suit. The cold, indifferent soldier frowned and placed his hand on Oscar's, and they shared a hoorah for their fortunes tomorrow.

They split up and went into their selected tents to rest away the night. Going out at nightfall was extremely dangerous, even for them, and traversing through Ashen Grove was exhausting due to the many dangers that lurked within. The first day of the long month was coming to an end.

Inside his tent, Oscar took out his inhibitor and let out a hiss as the nerve-pinching pain reverberated through his body. After the pain subsided, Oscar shakingly took out everything in his space pocket to organize. A heaping pile of cores, shells, claws, and more blocked his tent entrance.

"Maybe it's better to have a space pocket for each one." Oscar picked up one of the space pockets he looted from the Undying Flame Sect members and stored all of the cores in it. In another space pocket, Oscar forced all the Exalt Beast parts and vials of their blood. Next, he stared at the various vials of elixirs and the armaments.

"A grade-two halberd, bow, and sword. It would have been annoying to fight the three with arrows raining down." Oscar placed his fist atop his leg, leaning his cheek on it. Even though he had confidence in his and Austin's powers and knew the enemies were weaker, nothing was certain in a battle between Exalts. "The best method is to kill them before they can do anything, but I can't be sure that would be the case every time."

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He placed the armaments into another space pocket; his Invicus Bulwark would remain on his back. Next, Oscar glanced at the elixirs, trying to identify them.

"Some more Amelio Exilirs, good for healing. A few grade-two elixirs for tougher skin for better defense. A few for a speed boost." Oscar pondered. Elixirs were precious, and he needed all his contribution points for elixirs that aided his Reis and Ein progression. But for other elixirs, the effects were not immediate and had limited duration. The best way to use them was to drink them before heading toward a battle. "We can each drink a defense and speed elixir before getting into the vault if it is up in the tree."

Plopping onto his bed, Oscar sighed and closed his eyes, wondering how his friends were doing and if they were alright. Eventually, he got so tired from the worrying that his mind just shut itself down, and he fell into a deep sleep.

At the crack of dawn, the soft, soothing light that beamed down through the foliage returned the serene atmosphere to Ashen Grove. The morning breeze fluttered through and into every tent, waking Oscar up. The obsidian-haired man stood up and exited his tent, going into another one.

"Wake up, Austin." Oscar yawned. Immediately, his friend snapped awake, sprang from his bed, packed his things, and sheathed his dagger in seconds, showcasing his military training. Impressed by this, Oscar smiled as he passed two elixirs to Austin. "A speed and defense elixir for you."

"Thank you," Austin said.

Oscar left and entered another tent, seeing Erik snuggled tightly in his blanket like a burrito. "Erik, wake up!"

Erik's eyes slowly opened, and he wriggled around in his blanket like a worm. "Is it morning?"

"Yup." Oscar said.

"Damn." Erik got up; his eyes were barely open. "I hate mornings."

"Wash up and meet us at the front gate." Oscar chuckled and left with Austin.

Oscar said his greetings to the ones designated to guard the entrances, who responded with a smile. He gazed over the campsite, seeing others coming out of their tents and getting ready to set out. Many had serious expressions as they prepared.

"I'm here!" Erik ran in a huff and stopped before Oscar and Austin. His curly blond hair looked crazy.

"Let's head out." Oscar led the way back toward the ruins where the large tree stood. As Erik gaped and was awed at the ruins around them, Oscar could not help be look in a certain direction, where he left the bodies of the three enemies. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face Austin, who shook his head.

With a weak smile, Oscar nodded and did not look back toward the bodies. He faced ahead as they neared the large tree. "Here it is, Erik."

"What an amazing structure." Erik looked taken aback by the sheer size of the tree. Oscar and Austin remained vigilant of their surroundings, not wishing to face the same fate as the unfortunate trio yesterday. Erik turned back and asked, "What kind of boost can you give me?"

Oscar squinted and held his hand above his eyes, narrowing his vision to see further. "I can get all three of us up maybe a third of the way."

"A third? That's impressive, but I don't know if that's still viable." Erik frowned.

"If we can get a tenth of the distance away, I can make it work." Austin chimed in.

"Let's try it," Oscar felt it was pointless to keep theorizing. They'd be wasting time and allowing others to find them if they did not start. With a single thought, Oscar summoned his deer anima and rode it. "This will be awkward, but you must grab tight."

Austin showed a slight twitch in his eye, but he nodded and clung to one of Oscar's shoulders. Erik followed suit and grabbed the other shoulder.

Oscar frowned from the increased weight but felt his calculations were still fine and started the process. His deer anima ran back for a running start and bolted with tremendous speed, leaving a dent in the ground. Oscar hopped onto the deer anima's antlers while the other two clung tightly.

Eighty-five percent of his body already had the Adamasreis active, and he charged up his Ein into his feet. He kicked off his anima, shattering the antlers into pieces, but he soared into the air after releasing all of his Reis and Ein to propel him.

Once they reached about a third of the way, Oscar felt his momentum slowing, and gravity would bring them down soon.

"Erik!" Oscar switched spots and clung onto Erik, as did Austin.

Erik unleashed his Ein, and fire beamed out of his feet. His gauntlet anima also manifested and grabbed onto his clothes; flames came out of their openings, similar to his feet. The four streams of fire allowed Erik to fly up with Oscar and Frederick.

"It's working!" Erik shouted in excitement.

"Keep it up!" Oscar shouted through the roars of the flames. This method of flying was not sustainable as Erik's Ein was quickly depleted. Finally, they could see one of the branches, very large and full of leaves.

"I can't hold it!" Erik said as the flames from his feet and anima started to flicker, trying to squeeze out as much of his depleted Ein.

Oscar took out his bulwark and threw it with all his might. "Austin!"

"Got it," Before the bulwark was about of range, Austin placed a dark circle on it, which sprouted out into a dark tendril. As the bulwark reached its maximum length, the tendril moved and wrapped itself around one of the large branches. "I can't keep it up forever, and it's out of my range, so it's running on all the Ein I put in it, so pull!"

"Leave it to me." Oscar pulled on his thread and climbed up. His climbing speed was something to behold which shocked Erik and Austin. In mere moments, they arrived where the bulwark was hanging by a dark tendril.

Having recovered some of his Ein, Austin grabbed the tendril, flowing more of his Ein into it to strengthen it.

Oscar climbed up the tendril and reached the branch. It was so wide that Oscar laid down in exhaustion.

Austin and Erik dragged their feet before lying down as well.

"We made it. Now let's find that vault." Oscar groaned.

"Rest first!" Erik grunted.

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